Just a quick post to say I hope everyone who reads this has an enjoyable, safe New Year’s Eve. Remember this, the title of a book I once read: “Enough is a Feast.”
Be mindful of those who do not have enough. Be mindful of how much is enough for YOU. Enough is a blessing of epic proportions. Many of us who have enough remain ignorant of the fact, always seeking more. This goes equally for second helpings, money matters, love and admiration, celebrity, possessions…
What is the true nature of a feast: Is it about food? Well, too often, for me, it is. And when I focus totally on trying to present a lavish spread, in fact, on showing everybody what a great cook I am (ha!), I generally not only fall short of my own expectations, but I’m too wrapped up in them to be the relaxed hostess, the welcoming presence, that I wish to be to my guests.
One of the most profound gifts of the year was my birthday, when my twin granddaughters arrived at our home just as I was preparing for 20 others to come to a girls’ birthday party I was giving myself. That kind of event normally turns me into a distracted cleaning/cooking/ decorating monster, one who is so stressed and exhausted by the time the guests get here that she is not fit for man nor beast. But when the babies came, I plumped down on the floor in my new white dress and played with them and was so deeply charmed by their cherubic faces that, when my girlfriends arrived, although the house was a mess and the food far from perfect and my plans were in shreds, beamed at them and walked as though on clouds.
This Christmas, as I mentioned, was the slimmest ever in my life in material things. But what I got materially was surely enough. What I received in blessings in the form of time with family and friends, the chance to meet some new people, the opportunity to become a true “auntie” (to my darling grand-neice, with whom I have shared little time over the years), long e-mails and phone chats with a far-off cousin and even longer talks with an elder second-cousin, and time — if my non-believing friends will allow me this indulgence — in prayer and scripture and church with the Lord.
If I could go back in time, to when I had a job, gave great presents and received even greater volumes of goodies, I truly would not.
Tomorrow, we’ll be sharing a feast with a friend who is merrily cleaning out her fridge as she embarks on a new nutritional life to improve her health. How fitting to feast the old year away, with firm intentions of turning a corner in the new.
Hauoli Makahiki Hou!
Happy New Year to you, Wanda. Thank you for the gift you send several times a week through your wonderful writing. Peace be with you. May 2012 be a happy year for us all.
Amen to Vadalia’s comments. And you look lovely!
Aloha.